A Parent Thing
by AnArtistAngelWrites
Summary: After getting in trouble at work, Connor prepares for Hank to punish him appropriately. He's surprised when Hank does the opposite. What the hell, Hank?


**A Parent Thing**

Connor looked to the front door with raised brows. Sumo hopped off his lap and went to greet Hank as he walked into the house.

It was only 3:00PM.

Hank hung his coat up and walked up to Connor's side with Sumo loyally following him. Connor looked away and back to the TV where he had a documentary playing. He was preparing for this moment. He just didn't think it would happen so soon. He thought Hank would stay at work a little while longer.

"So, I hear you got sent home," Hank said.

Connor resisted the urge to huff. Hank made it sound as if he were a child sent home from school. He did somewhat expect to be treated like a child but not one from school. This was more serious.

"That's right, Hank."

"What happened?"

Connor knew Hank knew the answer to that. He didn't want to say it himself, but Hank didn't seem to give him a choice. "I punched Detective Reed."

"You punched Gavin," Hank repeated, dryly. "That's it."

"Well...I punched him more than once," Connor admitted.

"Yeah I know. I saw his broken nose and he's already got a shiner," Hank said, nodding. "Why did you hit him?"

"I have my reasons," Connor said, stubbornly.

"And I want to know what those reasons are."

Connor shifted. He did his best not to remove his coin from his pocket. He still didn't look at Hank and his LED turned yellow. He knew Hank was staring at it, probably waiting for it to possibly go red.

"I'm sure it's recorded on the security cameras, if you want to see it," Connor said.

He assumed Hank would want to watch him beat up Gavin. It was something he had coming. Then again, he did quite a number on him that day in the evidence room. Self-defense. But Hank didn't see that one and Connor didn't have it recorded.

"I don't want to see it. I just want to know why you hit him," Hank said, getting impatient. "It wasn't about me, was it?"

Connor shook his head. "No, not you."

"So what was it?"

Connor sighed. He couldn't hold it off forever and even if he tried, the officers at the station could tell him. "He accused me of being a replacement for Cole. That I had the nerve to walk into your life and try to take his place."

When it was first said, it took Connor a moment to process just what Gavin said. Then, he punched him. It felt satisfying so he punched him again and again. Before he went too far, Chris pulled him off. Fowler asked to see him and then, after he explained to him what had happened, he was sent home for the rest of the day.

Connor was surprised he wasn't suspended. He could only assume it was because even Fowler thought it was wrong to accuse someone of taking a dead child's place.

"Connor-"

"I'm sorry, Hank," Connor sighed. His LED was red now. "But I couldn't let him get away with saying that. Though...I probably shouldn't have hit him as much as I did."

"I'm not angry with you, Connor," Hank said. He sat next to him. He rested a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, look at me already."

Connor hesitated for a moment before relenting. Hank didn't look displeased. As a matter of fact, his eyes were soft and whatever impatience he had seemed to have gone away.

"This is going to sound hypocritical," Hank began, "but you can't let what that asshole says get to you. Not to the point of trying to beat him silly anyway."

"I know...but you weren't there."

"I didn't have to be," Hank said. "I know how much of an asshole he is. I know how much that would bother you."

"I'm not a replacement…"

"Of course you aren't, Connor. I never thought you were," Hank said, firmly. He gave Connor a light shake. "And this is also your house. You're always welcome here. You're family."

Connor's LED finally went back to blue. He managed a small smile. "Thanks, Hank…"

Hank leaned back and patted the top of his head. Connor swatted his hand away. "Good. Glad you got the point."

"What are you going to do now?" Connor asked, tilting his head. "I assume you're going to punish me somehow."

"Uh...well, I wasn't thinking about it," Hank admitted. He seemed to think for a moment before putting his hand out. "You got your coin?"

"Why do you want my coin?" Connor asked, suspiciously, moving away from Hank.

Hank smirked. "I'll be confiscating it for one week."

Connor's eyes widened. "What?! No!"

"Hey, you're the one who wanted punishment," Hank said, holding back a laugh. He held his hand out further. "Gimme."

Connor grumbled. His LED was yellow again. He begrudgingly removed his coin from his pocket and placed it in Hank's palm. He looked away to avoid Hank's amused smirk. He couldn't block out the laughter as Hank stood. On his way to the kitchen, Hank ruffled his hair. Connor swatted his hand again.

"I can't believe this," he continued to grumble.

"Well, what did you think I was going to do?" Hank asked. Connor watched as he put the coin in his own pocket. "Ground you?"

"Yes!" Connor snapped. "You're a _parent_. It's a parent thing to ground their kids. _Not_ confiscate their kids' precious items!"

Hank leaned against the kitchen counter. "If you send him to the hospital next time I'll ground you. But until then, your punishment is no coin for one week."

Connor groaned loudly.

Hank laughed again.

Connor huffed. "_Parents_."

He was sure he was annoyed, yet he had a smile and his LED was blue.

* * *

_**Author's note:**_

This is pretty self-indulgent but I don't care. xD I've had this in my mind for a while now so I decided to finally write it.

Hope ya'll enjoyed reading. c:

That's all for now. I'll see ya'll next time.

Thanks for reading!

~Kurosaki


End file.
